Seeking2012
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yes, I am pretty sure is it.
I am married to an environmental chemist. And I know that many "alternative med" people suggest this is the reason why people do not feel well, but it is unproven alarmist rhetoric.
No PUB MED articles suggest heavy metal toxicity is a real health threat.
You should be tested for celiac first hon.... you have a sibling with it and it may very well explain your symptoms. Celiac is a great mimic.The symptoms look the same.
Trust me, I learned the hard way. I heard the "heavy metals thing" too and was told to have expensive and dangerous chelation therapy to "rid my body if it". Total malarkey.
You should avoid patronizing me and trying to lure me into an internet battle of egos. Firstly, you are married to a chemist; you are not yourself a chemist. Second, I do have some background in science; I have an Associate of Science degree in engineering and some courses beyond that as well.
Checking myself for Celiac is on my to-do list, right after thyroid panel including T4, T3, Reverse T3, both antibody tests Vitamin D3, and Vitamin B12. I already tested feritin and I had a healthy amount.
How did you learn "the hard way" that heavy metals testing is "total malarkey?" I am interested in your story and what tests you had done. I am extremely skeptical of all doctors, whether they be allopathic, naturopathic, functional, holistic, or purple with pink polka dots. I am also skeptical of all tests because I know that a test only applies to a very specific set of conditions and has limited ability to tell you something about your body, and that if you misuse and misinterpret tests, you could be wasting a lot of money and doing harm to your body.
Now, you stated that "no pub med article" suggest heavy metal toxicity is a real health threat. I would encourage you to check out pubmed for yourself. I'd recommend that you start with "Open Original Shared LinkThis study showed that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome experienced a dramatic decrease in symptoms when they had their mercury dental amalgams removed. The study showed that the symptoms were caused by chronic immune lympocyte activity against the heavy metals.
There are more studies like this.
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I experience the same thing you do. I am still trying to figure out what is causing my own fatigue and I suspect a thyroid problem. I believe that the diet cannot completely control our energy levels if there are other things going on in the body. Many things have an effect on energy levels and depression/anxiety, not just diet. That being said, I do notice that I, too, feel much better (overall) when eating a lower carb diet (low sugar and low starch). But even on days when I am low-carbing, I can still experience fatigue, depression and/or anxiety. That is why I suspect that there is a thyroid problem. Do you have any other symptoms besides fatigue and depression and anxiety?
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Before thinking you have a "heavy metals" poisoning --and believe me, this is very rare!! -- you should get tested for celiac.
An MRI will not reveal "buried heavy metals In your brain"
Not sure where you are getting this information from, but it simply is not true:
I think that people with Celiac probably have a heavy metal in their body.
It's not as rare as you think. People now adays are carying around a very heavy toxicity load from pesticides, fertilizers, metals, fluoride, engine exhaust and many others. And what makes it worse is that these toxins impede the body's natural toxin-clearing mechanisms such as the natural antioxidant glutathione from working properly.
I think the idea that "that heavy metals will quickly bury themselves deep into the body's organs and tisuses" is a bit odd. A metal isn't a living organism, it isn't trying to hide from you.
If you really think you have been exposed to lead or mercury, you need to see a " real" doctor. There are legitimate tests for this and there are a lot of quack ones, too. Read info on reliable medical sites like Mayo Clinic. Skip the fringe " doctors" that just want to sell you things.
The reason I said "quickly bury themselves" is because the heavy metals have a very strong affinity for creating bonds with other compounds, and they are in competition against vitamins, weaker minerals, and iodine for bonding sites. The heavy metal ion will beat the other ions every time, thereby quickly "burying" themselves in organ tissue, while creating vitamin/mineral/iodine defficiencies. This is what I read from several scientific studies on pubmed. Of course, it's all about electricty. Chemical bonds form due to electron activity. I know that they are not alive and moving around like organisms.
I can only speak to excess copper deposition in the brain Doc Askari is my doc at the U of M .
This is from the Wisons disease Associations web page :
How/where is the brain affected by copper accumulation?
Generally, the brain is affected symmetrically with excess copper deposition, although symptoms can be worse on one side of the body than another. This may have to do with factors of asymmetric neurologic development, such as being right or left-handed. The copper is often seen most prominently in the basal ganglia, the area deep within the brain that coordinates movements. The face of the giant panda sign refers to a characteristic appearance of the basal ganglia in advanced Wilson's disease. This is a description of the appearance of the basal ganglia wherein one can get an impressionists image of the face of a giant panda. Fred Askari, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Director, Wilson's Disease Center of Excellence Clinic at the University of Michigan
An MRI can show excess copper deposition in the brain the trick is finding a doc that can read those results
First and for most find a doc that has a clue how to test for heavy metal poisoning Most docs can look up what test to run but have not idea how to read them
You bring up an excellent example with Wilson's Disease. I have to admit though that I am not very familiar with Wilson's Disease. Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly, Wilson's Disease occurs because the body cannot clear copper from the body and therefore copper builds up in the body's organs.
By the way, if an MRI can detect copper build up in organs of the body, is there an MRI that can detect murcery and other toxic heavy metals?
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Hey everyone.
Last month I was diagnosed with celiac. Eventhough this disease is no picnic I am thankful for a diagnoses because I was feeling so terrible before the dr. could find out what was wrong with me. I am concerned about my blood sugar levels. I have also read that celiac disease and type 1 diabetes go hand in hand, which makes me more nervous.
Here is why:
Last November I started to have a few of symptoms of diabetes ( I didnt know they were diabetes symptoms at the time)- I was constantly thirsty (like had to have a bottle of water at all times, cant finish a sentence without taking a drink thirsty), urinating all the time, and had 3 strange episodes where suddenly my vision would go blurry, and then return to normal within a minute or two. Those symptoms have continued, and have gotten worse. I havent had anymore vision problems, but have some days where I am constantly drinking water and going to the bathroom. It just feels like I can never get enough to drink. But its not everyday, just probably about 50 percent of the time. Also, I got up 8 times to go to the bathroom the other night.
I have also within the past month or two started having these spells where I am extremely light headed and feel like I am going to faint. I thought it was gluten withdrawl, but it will not go away. It got so bad at church last sunday that I was afraid to stand up...I literally thought I was going to pass out.
I am worried because now I know that these are all symptoms of diabetes, and that celiac and type 1 diabetes go hand in hand sometimes. I am really worried. I am young, in my early 20's, and have never been overweight. I dont know what to do. I just moved to the area so I dont have a primary care dr yet. I have an appointment to see one in September to get established as her patient, but I am kind of worried about letting this drag on until then.
Anyone here have an opinion on what I should do? Or does anyone have any experience with something similar? Please help. I am really worried about this
I recommend what others have said, do an A1C test and a fasting glucose test to see if you are already diabetic. If you do have diabetes you need to know if it's Type 1 or Type 2 because those are treated differently. Type 1 is another autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the Islets of Langerhans cells in the pancreas and it means you don't make any insulin so you'll have to have insulin all the time. Type 2 is not autoimmune and it means that your body still make some insulin, so with type 2 you will still need some insulin but not as much. Your doctor should know how to test to see which one it is, if indeed you are diabetic.
It sounds to me like you are experiencing episodes of hyper and hypoglycemia. Hypo would be when you get shaky and feel woozy and tired. Hyper would be when you get blurry vision and are constantly thirsty. My mom has T2 diabetes and I have insulin resistance so I'm familiar with this stuff. So even if you are not diabetic, you still need to eat more like a diabetic. I used to have the same symptoms as you. What I did was lower my carb intake and increase protein. Protein with every meal is really important, and decreasing sugar intake is just as important. This really goes a long way to eliminating the blood sugar roller coaster ride that causes hyper and hypo glycemia symptoms.
EDIT: Oh I just realized that this is an old threat. I hope the OPer comes back to let us know what's going on.
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I have CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), brain fog, very very bad memory, difficulty concentrating, etc, and I read that CFS is often associated with heavy metal poisoning. My sister has Celiac and my mom has diabetes. I think that they are all related, based on researching I've been doing for over a year. What I'm finding that seems common to them all is a heavy metal toxicity. I read that mercury causes hashimoto's thyroiditis, and that it's common for people with one autoimmune disease to have or develop others as well. I think that people with Celiac probably have a heavy metal in their body.
So, I'd like to get myself tested for heavy metal poisoning, but it looks like that's really tricky. Because the blood tests, urine tests and hair tests are all for recent exposures to heavy metals. It turns out that heavy metals will quickly bury themselves deep into the body's organs and tisuses and 9 times out of 10 not show up in those tests.
So, how can I find out then if I have buried heavy metals in my body, especially my brain? Is there an MRI I can do? Anyone know?
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I'm posting this because my understanding on the topic has evolved and I wanted to post an update. I've been thinking about autoimmunity for some time. I've had this question floating around in my head: "If you're body makes any autoantibodies at all, doesn't that mean there is an antigen somewhere in your diet or environment that you need to be avoiding? Doesn't it mean that your immune response is confused? Is it true that the body should not make any autoantibodies at all? Is there any reason why the body should need to make them?"
The answer to this seems intuitive. Autoantibodies are antibodies that kill off your own body's cells. Well, someone somewhere (I thought it was this thread but I guess I was wrong) made a statement. He/she said: "I think that autoantibodoes are part of the body cleaning out dead cells."
That made some sense to me for a while, until I looked further into it today. It turns out that the "cleaning out of dead cells" in the body is called apoptosis and is done by phagoycites. I read this on wikipedia: "The removal of dying cells by phagocytes occurs in an orderly manner without eliciting an inflammatory response."So this means that the body's immune response is not activated or involved in "cleaning out the body's dead cells (housecleaning)." This implies that autoantibodies are not produced for the purpose of housecleaning.
Is there any reason that the body would need to produce autoantibodies? Or does any (no matter how small) amount of production of autoantibodies mean that the immune system is confused?
And is there a way to "fix" the confused immune system so that it can once again tell the difference between self cells and non-self cells?
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I make chicken nuggets in my Acti-Fry for my kids. The coating is in a baggie and I keep it in the freezer using it a couple of times.
The coating:
1c tapioca flour
1c brown rice or al purpose gluten-free flour
1/2c flax and chia meal
3/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp pepper
3 tsp seasoning salt
3/4 tsp garlic
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp mustard
I cut up about 4 chicken breasts, dip them in coconut milk and throw them in the bag. Shake the bag and place the coated chicken in the actifry. I add about 3 Tbs oil (sesame or olive) and cook about 25-28 minutes. Crispy and the boys like them.
Do you know which ingredient gives the nuggets their crunchiness/crispiness? I have been using parm cheese as my breading but no crunch. Don't want to use all the ingredients in your recipe but need to pick one that will add crunchiness.
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Hi guys,
I am trying to do low carb AND gluten-free at the same time. Over on the low carb forums they tell me "use grated parmesan cheese as your breading." The problem with this is that there is no crunch like there is when you use white flour as the breading.
I want to achieve that CRUNCH when you bite into that delicious chicken nugget. Currently I am using half parm cheese and half white flour in my chicken nuggets recipe but I want to free myself of the gluten.
What can I use instead of the white flour as my breading that will have that nice CRUNCH when fried? Will rice flour work? I'm going to be using parm cheese too in order to lower carb count.
Thanks guys!
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Maybe go to a different flavor of coconut flour cake, such as.... coconut ? add coconut extract and flaked coconut, plus the vanilla, and then just use chocolate icing ? Maybe try a different brand of cocoa powder? Or carob powder icing ? Or use mashed banana in the cake batter ?
Don't give up, everybody has made something they thought was pretty good and then ..... the reaction.
Then you feed the leftovers to somebody else. 
I am going to try another brand of cocoa powder or go with carob instead. And I've become very pessimistic about coconut flour in general because it is so extremely finicky. I tried making muffins with it the other day and they turned out a soggy mess. Not to mention the taste was absolutely horrible; could not get it down. And the smell was equally bad.
You could also try making a cake with a different set of flours. There are gluten free
cake mixes out there. You can also bake from scratch gluten free with rice flour,
sorghum flour, all kinds of flours. This will result in a cake more like what you're
used to. It's entirely possible you're just intolerant to coconut......
Perhaps, but the starchy flours are too high on the glycemic index for me. I need something lower in carbs. Gonna try almond flour next time.
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I don't get it. It takes up to 2 YEARS to show recovery. Sure, the numbers are going to go down during that time, but anti gliadin antibodies have a half life of 120 days. This means that every 120 days, your numbers will go down by half. Look up the wikipedia page on "anti gliadin antibodies;" this info is all there.
You didn't provide much of a timeline as to when your biopsy occured, when your diagnosis occured, when you stopped eating all gluten, etc so I can't say much other than that I've already said.
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If I were you, I would go for an entirely different recipe.
Either I'm a total dummy when it comes to gluten-free baking, or gluten-free cooking from scratch is quite a complex task. Here is the recipe I used this time:
- 1 cup butter - softened
- 1 2/3 cups sugar
- 10 eggs (at room temperature)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups coconut flour
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/3 cup milk or half n half
- Coconut oil
Here's the icing recipe I used:
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
I substituted canola oil in place of the coconut oil, as I do not yet have coconut oil. Everything else I did exactly as the instructions say. The good news is that the cake came out moist, velvety and had a deep chocolate color. The texture was very good. The flavor was also more chocolatey this time compared to the other cake I had attempted in the OP.
Here's how a slice cut from the cake looked (each slice is 1/8th of the cake):
But here's the bad part. This cake put me through a lot of pain. Literally. I was a huge dummy and didn't realize until after I had eaten half a slice of this cake that it has so much caffeine in it from the cocoa powder. I am extremely sensitive to caffeine. I don't drink sodas (haven't for years), and I don't drink coffee either (never have). The caffeine gave me a headache, pain in my neck, shoulders, back and arms. it also made me dizzy. Repeated exposure (I had another half slice yesterday because I didn't learn my lesson the first time) will cause more symptoms, such as hardened stools followed by diarrhea. The caffeine upper body pain lasts for many hours and continues into the following day, though at a lesser degree.
In case you think I may have mistakenly been glutened, nope, that is not the case. The coconut flour has one ingredient: coconut flour. The cocoa powder also has one ingredient: cocoa powder. Also, I am unaware of any gluten sensitivities that I may or may not have; for example, I can eat a wheat flour burger bun or a wheat flour dinner roll and experience no trouble whatsoever. I am on this forum learning about celiac and gluten-free cooking because my sister has celiac and therefore I'm genetically predisposed to get it too.
Anyway, this leaves me with many questions:
1. Did I overdo it on the cocoa powder (I did experience some mild pain from the other recipe in which I used 1/2c though)?
2. How do the conventional wheat flour-based chocolate cake mixes at the store, which include cocoa powder, get that full, rich chocolately flavor without the painful effects of the caffeine? Are they decaffeinating their cocoa powder? I've eaten many a cake-mix and don't remember ever experiencing caffeine pain from them.
3. Why can I eat a 60% cocoa Ghirardelli bar (yes, the whole bar) and not experience any side effects from the caffeine? Are they also removing the caffeine?
4. Is there some sort of cooking/processing technique that renders the caffeine ineffective?
Comparison of this gluten-free cake to a wheat-flour based chocolate cake mix at the store:
- A wheat-flour based chocolate cake mix always comes out light and fluffy, and goes down the throat smoothly. The cake will be somewhat filling.
- This gluten-free chocolate cake came out more dense and was extremely filling. I mean EXTREMELY filling, to the point where I can't finish a whole slice. Also, the cake will still feel a little "rough" when going down the throat.
- This gluten-free cake doesn't hold together very well; it crumbled apart during the process of taking it out of the pan, applying icing, and cutting it. Note that all these tasks were performed after the cake had thoroughly cooled in the fridge.
I don't get it. Maybe someone out there knows the answer.
I am so sad; I am going to have to throw out all the remaining 7 slices of this cake. I am on the verge of giving up on gluten-free cakes. But what bothers me the most is that I haven't yet found the answer. I wanted to be able to make my own recipes from home because this gives me more control over what I am eating, but then my own cooking ends up hurting me? I am devastated.
Edited to add this: I just got off the phone with Now Foods (the company I bought the cocoa powder from) and they said that their product is the ogranic, non-alkalinized "real" thing, and that it may just be too much for my digestive system to handle. This is what their product page says: "each serving of NOW® non-alkalinized Organic Cocoa Powder naturally contains 21.5 - 107.5 mg of cocoa flavanols (polyphenol)"
Maybe it's not just the caffeine; maybe it's the theobromine, polyphenols and flavanols that's doing it to me...
- 1 cup butter - softened
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interesting - i had labs done by Prometheus
They showed my TTG IgA of 1.3u/ml, which is in the less than 10,3u/ml reference range.
however, the exact same blood sample was also tested by PeaceHealth Labs by accident (long story) and the TTG IgA came in at 29. their reference range was <20 none, 20-30 weak positive and >30eu was positive.
How in the world does this level of a mistake happen? How can one lab get such a radically different reading from the same blood sample than another lab? My goodness!
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I agree with what everyone else here has said; you definitely have Celiac and you at this point do have intestinal damage (the EMA result). You don't need an endoscopy to confirm these results.
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Celiac Disease (as I currently understand it) means that there is villous atrophy that is being caused by the body’s immune reaction against gliadin proteins. According to literature I’ve read by Dr. Alessio Fasano, an individual can develop Celiac Disease at any time during their lifetime.
Here are the tests that are currently used in the medical community to diagnose Celiac Disease:
- Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies (tTG-IgA, tTG-IgG)
- Anti-Gliadin Antibodies (AGA-IgA, AGA-IgG)
- Anti-Endomysial Antibodies (EMA-IgA, EMA-IgG)
- Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibodies (DGP-IgA, DGP-IgA)
- Total IgA count
Here are the reference ranges for the above-mentioned tests:
Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibody IgA:
0-19 is defined as normal
Deamidated Gliadin Peptide Antibody IgG:
0-19 is defined as normal
Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody IgA:
0-3 is defined as normal
Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody IgG:
0-5 is defined as normal
Total IgA Antibody count:
70-400 is defined as normal
Let’s try and define “normal.” What does “normal” mean? Does this mean that people who are perfectly healthy, who are having no reaction to gluten at all, have those numbers? Or does it just mean that people who may be having a reaction to gluten, but not enough to cause villous atrophy, may have those numbers?
I especially find “weak positive” vs “positive” to be hilarious. What does “weak positive” mean? I mean, come on! Does “weak positive” mean they THINK it might cause villous atrophy?
I suppose that scientists and/or doctors have arrived at these numbers as their definition of what (they think) is (maybe) going to cause villous atrophy. However, there are many questions and doubts I have about this, as follows:
1. How do they know that these numbers will or will not cause villous atrophy? What if a DGP IgA value of 15 causes villous atrophy in some people whereas a number of 21 does not cause villous atrophy in others?
2. What if the guy with the 21 number does not have villous atrophy yet because his body only started reacting to gliadin proteins a few months ago and not enough time has passed to develop villous atrophy?
3. Is villous atrophy all we care about? What other forms of damage can a DGP-IgA value of 20+ be doing? What about a value of 15? 10? 5? 1 even?
4. If you have a number greater than 0 of any of these SELF antibodies, doesn’t that mean you have a form of autoimmune disorder? If not, then does the body just make these antibodies just because it feels like it? Is the human body programmed by evolution to make at least a certain amount of these self antibodies (I seriously doubt it), or does it make them in response to stimuli?
5. If the latter, can the stimuli be anything besides gliadin and glutenin proteins? If so, what?
My theory: if your body is making ANY antibodies against SELF tissues, you have an autoimmune disorder, but I don't know what is causing it, nor can I tell you what type of damage it is doing to your body. I know, that's very helpful, isn't it?
What do you guys think?
- Tissue Transglutaminase Antibodies (tTG-IgA, tTG-IgG)
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I don't know if this is available in your area but here we have hospitals and labs that will charge a sliding or no fee scale to folks that have a low income and no insurance. You would apply through the hospitals finance office. My local hospitals will cover anything billed by the hospital including lab work that might need to be sent out. The only draw back is they don't cover the private physicans bills. You might be able to get the sliding or no fee scale from the hospital and then go into a clinic with the list of the tests needed so they can write the script to take to the hospitals lab.
If none of that is possible then you do have the option of giving the diet a good strict try for a few months. The one big draw back to that is being gluten free or gluten light will mean a good chance of a false negative on future testing without a gluten challenge.
But I wouldn't be able to just walk in to the lab and get the test done directly; I'd need to be written up for lab work by a doctor, and that means I'd have to go and see the doctor first (and the sliding scale thing would not apply to the doctor's visit), and doctors visits can cost $100-$300, so that kind of makes applying for the hospital's lab sliding scale fee pointless because I'd end up paying about the same anyways as I would by going to DirectLabs and just paying for that out of pocket.
I've heard of hospitals and universities doing free celiac testing but it only involves the tTG IgA one, not all the others in the complete panel. I'll end up having to pay for the entire thing out of pocket; there is just no way around it...
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If I were you, I would go for an entirely different recipe.
So I did go and find another recipe and made a cake with it, and I'm not going to post all the details today (I'll come back and post a lot more information tomorrow), but I will say this: I am in pain right now from the amount of caffeine I unknowingly exposed myself to today by using a lot more cocoa powder. This new recipe I used called for 1 cup of cocoa powder.
Literally within 1 minute of getting through half of the slice of cake the pain started. 1 cup of cocoa powder has 192mg of caffeine--more than a cup of coffee. My slice was 1/8th of the cake, and I couldn't even finish that much. This means that I consumed (including 1/8th of the icing), 36mg of caffeine. This is about the same amount found in a can of pepsi.
My body has always been sensitive to caffeine. Years ago when I used to drink sodas, I would get headaches and neck/back pain from the caffeine in them. It's 2 hours later and I'm still experiencing pain (headache, back pain, neck pain) from the effects of the 36mg of caffeine I ate in that cake.
I am extremely puzzled. I used to eat slices of chocolate cake from the cake mixes you get at the store and I'd never have this effect. Why is that? Are they really using less cocoa powder in their chocolate cake mixes that I'm using in mine? And if so, how do they get the strong chocolate flavor then?
Ugh...
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Coconut flour is not at all like other flours, because it is extremely low starch, high protein, and it's basically a dry nut meal. It has very little elasticity to it, so one must use either a lot of gum or a lot of egg to hold it together. It also sops up water dramatically, and expands differently than other flours, which then makes it very difficult to dry out enough in the finished product. Hence the recipe above, as written, looks like it is for chocolate flavored scrambled eggs with a lot of added fat.
And, as you noticed, there really is NOT enough cocoa powder in there to make an entire cake have a chocolate flavor with nearly a carton of eggs used.Yep; I ended up having to double the amount of cocoa and even then it still didn't taste as chocolatey as I wanted it to. I'll do even more next time.
The purpose of the honey was to get the coconut to soak up that liquid and do its expansion routine, so the cake would not be as dry.Do you think the sandpaper feeling as it went down my throat was due to the dryness? I assumed it was just how coconut flour was. Sure would be nice to avoid the sandpaper feeling.
In cakes you usually cannot just sub granulated sugar for liquid honey (at least not 1:1). If you do not want to use granulated sugar, I would suggest you use agave syrup instead. That liquid is in there for a reason. That can make a huge change to the texture.
I made a mistake; the original recipe calls for maple syrup, not honey. But would that really make a difference?
After reading all these comments, I'm seeing now that doing a 1:1 sub with sugar for the syrup was a mistake. If I want to use sugar in the place of maple syrup or honey, how much sugar should I use, and what liquid should I add to the recipe to replace the moisture that would have been coming from the honey/maple syrup?
Coconut and canola oils are very different and not always interchangeable. They can be, of course, but not in addition to the other changes you made. The coconut oil would have contributed far nicer flavour.I'm going to buy coconut oil then.
Lastly, baking soda and baking powder are very different as well. You can substitute baking powder in place of baking soda (you'll need more baking powder and it may affect the taste), but you can't use baking soda when a recipe calls for baking powder. Baking soda by itself lacks the acidity to make a cake rise. However, you can make your own baking powder if you have baking soda and cream of tartar. Simply mix two parts cream of tartar with one part baking soda.Good to know. For many years now I have refused to use baking soda because the last time I used it, it made the food taste metalic. Is that supposed to happen or did that mean that the baking soda had gone bad or something?
I understand your substitutions and have a few suggestions. The first is that every recipe that I have tried with coconut flour actually needs much more liquid than the recipe calls for. Like up to a cup more (!!) Maybe it's because of the minimally processed coconut flour that I am using, but it soaks up the liquid and will become VERY dry without a lot extra. After making THOUSANDS (yes thousands) of cakes, I have never had the thought "ooh, that cake is just too moist." So, add extra liquid!
I have never had any problems/allergies/reactions with dairy; should I use milk as the liquid?
I have found that adding sour cream (if you can use the dairy) enhances every cake recipe. If you can't use sour cream, coconut milk is a wonderful enhancement to cake recipes. It adds moisture and fat, so gives it more cakey flavor.Forgive my ignorance...I had always assumed that sour cream would taste sour. I've never eaten it by itself so I don't know.
The original recipe just isn't right anyway, because 1/4 cup of cocoa powder isn't nearly enough!I could tell that right away; I had double the cocoa powder in the original recipe because it just looked way too light colored and didn't smell nearly chocolately enough.
Next time I would reduce the amount of flour and increase the chocolate to at least 3/4 cup of cocoa.Definitely. After 3/4 cup, I'll judge by smell.
I'll have to try this recipe out my way and let you know how it works! I'm in the process of converting my kitchen to a gluten-free kitchen and I think I'm going to start only doing gluten-free cakes, but I definitely have a lot to learn.Great; I hope to hear back from you once you've tried it. I'm going to try this recipe a 2nd time. How about this modified version of the recipe?
3/4+ cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
10 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar + 1 cup milk to replace the 1 cup of maple syrup (is this right?)
1 cup melted coconut oil
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I did follow most of the instructions from the book but I did change a few things. Instead of coconut oil, I used canola oil. Instead of honey, I used granulated sugar. Instead of baking soda, I used baking powder.
Cake Ingredients:
- 10 eggs
- 1 cup organic raw honey
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup coconut oil
- 3/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
- 1 tsp baking soda
Once I had everything mixed together, it looked more like caramel so I added more cocoa powder to get it to look more like chocolate or dark chocolate.
The cake came out having a spongy texture (resembling the texture of scrambled eggs). The texture was not that of a soft, familiar and delicate wheat-flour based cake. The flavor also was weird. It tasted less chocolately than I expected. The flavor was not bad but it wasn't good either.
Also, the coconut flour cake seemed like sandpaper as it went down my throat. I remember trying raw coconut flour when it first came in the mail and it went down my throat course and dry. It is similar to cornmeal in this regard.
Is it supposed to be like that?
- 10 eggs
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Thank you, seeking2012. I am not a man, but a young woman.
I apologize; I don't know why I assumed you were a guy. I also am a woman on a similar journey to yours to see what is causing my health ailments (chronic fatigue, decreased cognitive function and memory function, etc).
You've kind of scared me, like Im not going to get any results- which is frustrating because a couple of months ago, I wasn't going to even bother with the doctors again. But I figured, hey...at least I could try, and then move on with my diet changes. Regardless of the outcome of all my tests, I will be going gluten free. Fresh, living food gluten-free. No processed. These blood tests are to give me some kind of insight into my condition, cause I figured it wouldn't hurt to get checked-even if it turns out negative or false negative. At least he can check my vitamins and minerals.You should definitely get tested for at least Celiac Disease. I think most of us on this forum and forums all across the internet would love to have a lab test validate our symptoms, but sometimes there is not one that exists that can do that. But you can at least confirm or rule out Celiac.
I've read enough posts on here to see that some people get diagnosed by blood tests alone, some need a biopsy, some do trial and error(gluten-free), and some have had great results from using enterolab. I feel at this point, it really is up to me- regardless of what testing I choose to do and what results they turn up.You are right; it IS up to you.
I would also like to add that I am not upset by your post, if that's how Im coming off. You've just given me some more to think about. As far as finding new doctors- it can be some what of an hassle. I live on an island, and although we have good doctors here...it can be more of a ring a round to find a good one. I believe the doc Im with now is very compassionate and will listen to me. I've only recently switched over a couple months ago when I had a VERY bad flare up in my TMJ. Rounds of meds later, I am sick, sick. If I don't have any luck with him, I will be changing my diet and moving on.I'd recommend that you read up on the literature from Dr. Alessio Fasano (the doctor who discovered zonulin) and the Human Microbiome Project; very interesting and relevant material pertaining to celiac, gluten sensitivities, the microbiome and the role it plays in autoimmune diseases, etc.
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Hi, Im looking to get tested from enterolab to see if I have celiac or gluten sensitivities.
Don't bother with enterolab. Dr Fine makes a strong claim but he isn't willing to back it up with solid evidence:
"EnteroLab has developed a unique screening test for gluten sensitivity...that is more sensitive and specific than tests in current use. For more on the rationale and superiority of our method over pre-existing tests, please read an essay about this on this website."
AN ESSAY???? AN ESSAY??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!!! This is an insult to one's intelligence. I demand PEER-REVIEWED studies, not essays.
If Dr. Fine were so sure about the superiority of his testing method, why hasn't he submitted peer-reviewed medical literature for publication? He claims he has done one study, but his results have not been verified by other scientists and he won't allow them to be. Why is that?
I was wondering if anyone can give me any insight. Been suffering for years, and have had no luck with doctors in the past because they thought I was making all my symptoms up.
Ok. Anytime a doctor thinks you are making up your symptoms, you need to get up and walk out of that doctor's office immediately and get a new doctor. Especially if you are carefully logging your meals and corresponding symptoms. Log everything. Show the doctor your log. If the doctor still thinks you are making it up, get up and walk out right then and there. Demand quality treatment. Settle for no less. This type of thing makes me so mad.
A friend that has celiac mentioned it to me years ago, but I thought you only had gastro problems, which I did have as kid-very badly. But now, my whole body is really sick, as you all know how that goes, and after doing much reading up on it- I swear I've finally found out what it is. Not to mention, my friend was right! I just want to have conformation for myself before I go gluten free.Regarding confirmation, I can't blame you, but confirmation might be limited. Here's why. There are currently tests that can tell you whether or not you have a wheat allergy or Celiac Disease. But that's about it. Other tests that can tell you whether or not you have non-celiac gluten sensitivity are not accurate and cannot be trusted. The gold standard for those who have non-celiac gluten sensitivity is going on a gluten free diet for a month or so. If symptoms disappear while gluten-free, but re-appear when gluten is introduced back into the diet, then you know you are non-celiac gluten sensitive; that is your only confirmation at this time, given the lack of knowledge that exists in the scientific community on this subject at this time.
I also am going to try talking to my new doctor to see if he can run some blood tests. BUT, will be getting tested by enterolab first. That way, I can show him my results-proof.Don't bother. Dr. Fine has no credibility with other doctors, and rightly so. If your doctor refuses to run blood tests for wheat allergy and celiac disease, fire him/her and get a new doctor who will.
Im desperate to figure this out, as I cannot stand being sick any longer. I am only 24, and have been suffering my whole life. "Trying" to keep this short, sorry. So I'll spare all the symptoms, but what tests should I order?You deserve to feel better, and you deserve to know whether or not you have celiac disease. Ask for the full celiac panel to be run. Doctors will vary in their knowledge of Celiac Disease; some will be clueless and not know which tests to order. Here are the tests that should be included in any complete Celiac Panel:
Endomysial Antibody, IgA
Tissue Transglutaminase Antibody (tTG), IgA/IgG
Immunoglobulin A (IgA), total
Deamidated Gliadin Antibody IgA/IgG
Thank you so much for responding! I will be following your advice and going to doctor first. I'll also be bringing my mom in so she can testify for all my symptoms.
You are a grown man; you don't need to bring a witness with you who can attest to your symptoms. If your doctor will not take YOU seriously, fire him/her and get a new doctor.
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Hello everyone!
I registered here to learn more about Gluten free healthier life. I am married, a mother to a 17 months old toddler and live In Germany. My whole family (husband, son and me), seem to be experiencing symptoms of a gluten intolerance or Celiac disease.
I was hoping someone could help me figure this out, so we know what we are dealing with.
Summer 2011, I did not know anything about Gluten, nor did I experience obvious problems. But I was dealing with a lot of health issues, mostly autoimmune and hormone related problems (Hashimoto's, Pituitary Tumor and raised Prolactin), but also HPV and pre cervical cancer (CIN3 high grade lesions), and the cells stuck around even after surgery on my cervix pre pregnancy.
That is quite a big list right there.
Anyhow, because I was fed up with health issues, I agreed to try the Paleo Diet, which my husband had researched and I read a lot of good things about the health benefits.I started by cutting out Gluten (which made me feel better but not perfect), but later all grains (so corn and rice too), legumes, dairy, sugars. I was really not eating bad before, on the contrary, I was eating all organic, always home made and abiding to general health rules.
A lot of other grains are processed in facilities that also process wheat, so they get cross contaminated. That may be why you experienced discomfort while eating the other grains.
Only a few weeks into the Paleo Diet I started improving dramatically. I was not even aware of some problems until they left me...Fatigue, Brain Fog, Joint pain, Hypoglycemia, underweight, constipation, bloating, cramps, pimples. And my official health issues, also went away. I don't have Hashimoto's anymore, my thyroid works normal, I have a few antibodies left but nothing that requires medication anymore, my pituitary tumor shrank down to nothingness, my prolactin is normal, my HPV and cancer are gone without a trace.There is currently not a cure for autoimmune diseases; you still have the autoimmune disease but you are in remission when you avoid grains.
I am still so shocked about all these sudden improvements, that I hardly ever talk about it. Especially not around my family. I told them I must have some sort of Gluten intolerance too, and they think I am crazy. They try to feed me foods I can't eat and argue about my son's diet.You and your family need to start reading publications by Dr. Alessio Fasano, who discovered the protein zonulin and who is at the forefront of celiac and autoimmune disease research.
I recommend that you start with this: Open Original Shared LinkOpen Original Shared Link
Next, read these:
Open Original Shared Link
Open Original Shared Link
The longer I have been avoiding foods, the more sensitive I seem to be towards them. When I cheated on my diet a year ago, for a special occasion for example, I would just break out a little and maybe have some nausea and brain fog.Now, my body reacts violently, and I will be sick for days. Especially the first day I have a hard time functioning. Even when I accidentally ingest small amounts. Like flour in a seasoning.
Almost right away I get nausea, headaches, inflammation like pains in different body parts (mostly my right arm), dizziness, stomach pains, bowel problems, severe brain fog to the point where I feel "drugged" and the next day I have breakouts and lately my hair has been falling out from it too. Like I would suddenly shed a lot of hair and if I stay clean it will stop (I have lost a lot of hair this way).
What is weird though, is that I also react to rice, corn, soy, dairy. Although much less.
Those sound mostly like thyroid problems. So with certainty we can say that your thyroid is reacting badly when you are glutenned. I'm not completely sure about the rice, corn, soy or dairy, but after reading the literature I linked to above, I would guess that those things are triggering zonulin release just like the gluten is. Could be wrong; don't really know.
My son will pretty much throws up everything that I can't eat. My family is very interested in "training him to tolerate certain foods",No, no, no, no, and again, no. Training him to tolerate foods that his body is obviously not accepting is dangerous and can lead to the development of autoimmune disorders. What you need to do is firmly, swiftly, and completely remove all those foods from his diet that are giving him trouble. Trust your body's reaction. Log everything that causes trouble and avoid them with a fierceness.
and it has led to him being sick after. It is a really big issue for me, and I have fought more than one argument because of it.I do not understand how your family can be so unsupportive. Obviously they need to be educated about food sensitivities and Celiac disease. Have them read the stuff by Dr. Alessio Fasano. Celiac and autoimmune disorders are real, not made up, not in our imaginations, but real. Medical science is currently behind in this area and is trying to catch up. Dr. Alessio Fasano is in the front lines of this type of research.
My husband started on a Paleo Diet too, but did not stick with it. Prior to changing his diet he had already experienced problems after eating certain foods. Especially allergy like symptoms (runny or stuffy nose and itchy throat, bowel problems). He is still eating partly Paleo but he cheats on his diet often. He will feel sick as well, but not nearly as bad as me.It's difficult, especially for men, to avoid foods that give them symptoms, unless they have a difinitive test done that proves to them that they have a disease or a sensitivity. Perhaps once he reads the publications and literature by Dr. Alessio Fasano, he will see that exposing his body to foods that make him sick can lead to autoimmune disorders for which he will need to take medications, and he will stop cheating on his diet.
Can someone explain to me what is going on? Was I/ where we Gluten intolerant or Celiac and just never noticed? According to the Paleo Diet grains and Gluten are always bad, for everyone, yet not everyone seems to have reactions as severe as me or my son. So I am thinking we might have always been more sensitive to it.According to what I have read from Dr. Alessio Fasano, when people (anyone and everyone) eats gluten, their epithelial cells release zonulin, which opens up the tight junctions and allows paricles to move through the opening and into the lamina propria. Zonulin is triggered by gluten and bacteria and viruses; essentially, the body treats gluten as though it were a virus or a bacteria. Once gluten moves through the opening, it undergoes various attempts at breakdown by the body, and in genetically predisposed individuals, this can lead to an autoimmune reaction known as Celiac Disease.
The difference between those who have autoimmune disorders and those who do not, is that the body will overproduce zonulin and the tight junctions will be open a lot longer in autoimmune folks. This allows macromolecules to pass through the opening and get to places they do not belong, causing the body to react to them, which can lead to autoimmunity.
As far as I know, no one has yet discovered why zonulin is upregulated in autoimmune people. But this is a cutting edge field of science and new discoveries and medications are on the horizon.
The simplest, best way to heal your body is to avoid gluten because it is obviously causing you problems. Perhaps some probiotics are also in order because they help with leaky gut and immunity. Hope this helps.
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Yes you are correct. I have edited the post.